Free Lovelink by Tess Niland Kimber

amnesty. If only he could always be as pleasant towards her as he had been when they’d danced.
    He drew up outside the cottage and Vicky reached across to unlock the door. His hand covered hers and she turned towards him, his face dangerously close to her own.
    â€œVicky, I’m sorry. It’s just that you make me so angry sometimes. You’re so…innocent.”
    â€œInnocent?”
    â€œYes. Don’t you realise the effect you have on men? The effect you had on all those men you were dancing with tonight? The effect you have on me.”
    With that he kissed her, his mouth roughly covering hers. Vicky was so surprised that for a moment she was frozen. She felt spellbound, incapable of doing anything. Recovering slightly, her instant reaction was to push him away but when she put her hands up against the solid wall of his chest to do so, she found instead that she was sliding her hands around the back of his neck and returning his kiss with an ardour she hadn’t known she possessed. Her anger towards him had disappeared. This was the real Marcus now. Not the cold, bitter man whose harsh words hurt her so much.
    â€œOh, Vicky,” he murmured against her throat as he covered the skin with a chain of light kisses.
    From somewhere deep inside her head, a voice warned her that this was wrong. He had a girlfriend. How could she allow him to play with her emotions like this? She was vulnerable and this could only lead to her being hurt even more. Mustering all her strength, she pushed him violently away.
    â€œNo, Marcus. I’m sorry.”
    She wrenched open the car door and fled, desperately searching through her handbag for her front door key. She was aware of him following behind her, calling, “Vicky, wait. Please, Vicky.”
    But it wasn’t his words which stopped her in her tracks. Covering her mouth with her hand, she gasped, “Oh my God, I don’t believe it!”

Chapter Five
    Vicky was trembling.
    â€œThis can’t be happening to me.”
    Hot tears splashed down her cheeks as her mind reeled with the implications of this latest, most macabre trick.
    Who was doing this to her? And would they only be content when they’d not only chased her out of Brookleigh but also sent her out of her mind?
    After weeks of coping with all the problems at Lovelink, the stress and the strain she’d been harbouring suddenly threatened to overwhelm her. She could only take so much.
    She stared at her awesome discovery, mesmerised by the sight, like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.
    Nailed to her front door, was a black wreath.
    â€œVicky, whatever’s going on?” It was Marcus.
    His voice reminded her he was still there. She’d momentarily forgotten his presence, her mind concentrated solely on the wreath.
    Blindly, she turned to him, forgetting instantly that she’d a reason to flee him. A reason that only minutes previously had been so very real and important. It paled into insignificance. Now she was desperate only for comfort, security. Someone she could rely on.
    He didn’t disappoint her. Wrapping his arms around her shivering body, he held her tightly. She allowed herself to cry, sobbing relentlessly against his broad chest, releasing some of the tension of the past few weeks. Tricks, practical jokes she could handle. This was something else. Terrifying and too close to home.
    â€œCome on, Vicky. Let’s get you inside. You’re shaking.”
    She tensed. For once she wasn’t eager to go inside the cottage. She was scared the wreath wasn’t the only outrage they’d committed. Petrifying images of what they might have done to her beloved home whirled through her mind’s eye.
    She shuddered.
    Marcus must have sensed her reluctance for he said quietly to her, “It’ll be all right. I’m with you.” He gave her shoulders a comforting squeeze.
    Hesitating for just a moment longer, she then